Japan Bio Products Co., Ltd.

Placenta has a long history of use for health and beauty since ancient times. Hippocrates, an ancient Greek physician known as “The father of Western medicine” treated patients with placenta. There are anecdotes that Cleopatra, the Queen of Egypt, Yang Qin Qi in the Qin Dynasty of China, and Marie Antoinette, the Queen of France, also used placenta for their beauty. Shi Huang, the Qin Emperor of China, loved placenta as a longevity medicine, and that custom was thereafter retained by Chinese emperors for many years.

The first mention of placenta to appear in the scientific literature is in “The Honpusu” in the Tang Dynasty of China, which was stated in the name of “Jinpou” or “Enah”. After that, in the “Honzou Komoku” in the Ming Dynasty, the name “Shikasya” has been confirmed as a nourishing supplement. In contemporary medicine, Dr. Philatov, a Soviet ophthalmologist, developed “burial therapy” in 1933, embedding living tissue such as placenta in the human body, and its clinical efficacy was recognized. Based on his research, various formulations of placental products, i.e., injection, oral administration, and topical administration, were improved and developed as medicines in Japan.

Despite recognition of the benefit to human health and beauty since such a long time ago, the underlying mechanisms for the therapeutic effects are still unclear. It is presumed that its effects are due to complex additive and synergistic actions of proteins, amino acids, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, and various physiologically active ingredients (cytokines, chemokines, hormones, nucleic acids), but it will still take years to fully investigate its effects. To date, placental extracts have been used to treat various diseases (chronic liver diseases, menopausal syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, atopic dermatitis, aging, and so on).

The placenta, a temporary organ made from a mammalian fertilized ovum, grows with the fetus to defend and nurture the fetus. It is said that all cord mammals except humans eat the placenta right after delivery, even herbivorous animals. The placenta provides the oxygen and nutrients necessary for fetal growth as an interface between the mother and the fetus, and also serves to excrete wasted products. The placenta has roughly four functions for healthy growth of the fetus: (1) proliferation, (2) control, (3) induce differentiation, and (4) substitution.
“Proliferation” literally refers to the function of growing from one cell (fertilized egg) to approximately 3 kg of baby. It is said that this division speed is even quicker than that of cancer cells.
“Control” is to properly adjust this growth speed. By this action, the division is precisely controlled and grows exactly to a baby shape.
“Induce differentiation” is to help differentiate from a single cell (fertilized egg) to various organs, e.g., bones and skin.
“Substitute” function is to assist the function of organs. The placenta performs the functions of various organs such as lung, liver, kidney, ovary, spleen, and small intestine in a unified way.